The Meaning of "Thanks for Having Me"

I painted Mac Miller because his music has always felt like more than sound, it’s soul. I’ve always loved music, especially rap, but Mac was different.

He was a real artist, someone who played instruments, produced, experimented, and grew in front of us. What made this piece even more meaningful was sharing that connection with my mentor, Alan Padilla, who has completely different music tastes. He loves NPR Tiny Desk performances, and when Mac’s session came on one day, it gave us this unexpected bridge. I got to teach him about who Mac was, what the music meant past the melodies, and we both connected over the story behind it. Around that same time, I had the chance to work on the marketing and rollout for Balloonerism, and I’ll never forget that moment because it felt like everything came full circle. In a way, this painting became about more than Mac.

It’s about storytelling through art and how music and painting can both carry emotion that never fades. Mac will live on forever through the honesty and artistry he gave the world, and this piece is my way of keeping that alive.